The scream had been Nova, she’d been tossed into the wall by one of the women's Psionic power. Fernando had barrelled into them and backhanded one while Trenton took the other with a cleanly placed shot in her head.

The Comm traffic was from our wall, advising that multiple bodies were on the horizon. They wore Magister Ryles colors. I went to check Nova first, Trenton and a few Marines roughly forcing Ryles and his little guard to their knees and binding them.

“Nova, you ok?” I heard her groan in frustration, muttering something about a foolish mistake before nodding her head a bit to tell me she was fine. Both the Ghosts that had been sent by the Confederate Ghost Program were dead, one with a bullet that blew the top half of her head off, the other had her head twisted almost entirely around from Fernando’s backhand.

“Y-you killed Ghost Agents! You’re insane!” The blubbering idiot shouted at me. How I made out a single word with all his crying was a miracle in and of itself. I made my way toward him. We had a large force of his ‘militia’ coming toward our walls, that meant it was a fucking planned thing.

“How many men do you have?” He just cried more, no doubt cursing the day he was idiotic enough to enter the fucking stronghold of the people he was going to attack before the goddamn attack.

“Right, I’m not getting anything out of this useless idiot. Trenton! Take them to the holding cells in the Barracks, have Georgie help you. Fernando, get to that wall and deal with the enemies coming toward us. I want them either obliterated or retreating by the end of the day. Nova! You’re with me.”

Fernando went rushing from the room while Trenton moved the charming Magistrate and his people from the room toward the Barracks. This changed everything in the worst possible way for me. I needed anti-air beyond The Orion and the Missile Turrets if I was going to actually be able to hold any form of planet-bound base in a known location.

That meant I needed to hurry through the last bit of Campaign Maps but couldn’t bring my heaviest hitter, Fernando. Not if I wanted to keep Bastion safe. Nova would be coming with me, Granit and his Marauders would be remaining and I’d be making a recruitment drive on anyone with experience piloting a fucking Vulture for when Swann began getting the Condors moving.

I moved with a purpose, all but sprinting as I did, toward Swann’s Mechanics. When I rushed in, he was elbow deep in the guts of what I can only assume was the Condor. Black in color with purple highlights, matching my own colors, it was at least a third of the size larger than a Vulture and from the look of the heavy metal plating double the weight. The tires were replaced by treads, by the look of it, to help hold the increased size. It was a fucking mini siege tank with all of that, but I needed it.

“Swann! Is that thing ready yet?” Swann jumped a bit in surprised, banging his head against the metal panel above him and swearing. “Jesus Scooter! What? Why are you in such a tissy?”

I explained the situation to him quickly and he regarded the Condor Prototype, I even managed to snag a look at the stat screen.

Condor - Unique Unit

Type - Vulture Variant

Attack - 45

Defense - 60

Speed - 20

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

The Condor is a Unique Unit variation on the Vulture. It has decreased speed but makes up for it with its increased armor, attack, and control capabilities.

Wait, I didn’t see a Prototype anywhere in that screen, this was a fucking finished product! “Swann! You finished it?” He looked sheepish at that while he closed the panel and banged his metallic fist again the Condors side.

“This is the fifth one, the resources you sent me and the few boys I’ve managed to snag were enough to get us a few. Fernando even did a recruitment drive for people with experience driving Vultures while you were sleeping. None too soon either, by the sounds of it.”

Oh, thank you, Fernando, you and your foresight. “Good, I want two of these sent to the wall immediately, We have Magistrate Ryles’ forces moving on us as we speak. The other three I want to be sent into the loading bay of the Command Center. I’m going to have need of them, more so now than ever. Fernando will be in charge while I’m gone.”

“Wait, you can’t just leave now! We need you here!” He shouted in consternation at me, disapproval evident in his voice. He wasn’t wrong to be disappointed, based on his own knowledge of the situation.

“Trust me, Swann, please. I have to go for a time, but when I get back we will have something to augment our forces, somehow, and for you to tinker with. I want you to work on Upgrading The Orion with Caspian full time now though, we will need the air protection it can provide when the Confederate Forces make a real attempt at us. Understood?”

“Yea, Scooter, but I don’t like it. You leaving doesn’t sit right with me. Come back and prove me wrong, yea? Skippy got something for you as well. Took me a while to find the parts though.” Nova looked curiously at him a moment before Swann pulled out a bunch of pieces and parts...wait...really? He fucking gave her the Ghost equivalent of the Reaper armor? Holy shit!

“Thanks, Swann, I’ll put it to good use,” Nova said, grabbing them and sliding into it. I admit I took a moment to admire how it accentuated certain aspects of her anatomy, namely her legs and butt. “Remember, these won’t let you stealth. Too loud.” Was Swann’s only response before shouting for his men to start loading everything and getting the Condor Pilot's moving.

That left me rushing to the Barracks. I needed Marines, even raw recruits. Trenton would join, leaving Georgie and the others behind. “Nova, get the Condor Pilot's ready to move, I’m getting Trenton and some Marines before we head out.”

“Alright Damian, I’m with Swann though, this seems like a bad choice right now.” She went off before I could really respond to that. I fucking agreed! We needed more assets though, badly. The Campaign Maps were the only set option to get them, and it would increase my Commander Level, I hoped anyway. I needed to use my Hero Card as well. It’d have to wait till after this map. Thankfully it would take a day or two for the Confederate Forces to divert anything of real danger toward Mar Sara and Bastion. I’d be dealing with the loyal Magistrates here for the time being, and they should only really have a militia, nothing Fernando couldn’t put down with ease.

“Sir, I hear you’re moving out to get needed aid?” Fernando’s voice came across the Com as I entered the Barracks and I sighed. Of course, he bloody knew. I just wondered who had tattled on me.

“Yes, Fernando. I’m aware it’s a bad idea, but we need some kind of advantage and I should be able to obtain one by doing this.” Silence met my statement before he responded.

“I’ll keep Bastion save, Sir. Do what you need to, take Trenton and the six Marines he will show up with. Each one of them will be joining the Imperial Guard if we can pull through what’s coming.”

He killed the Com and I was stunned. He’d just placed a whole hell of a lot of trust in me without a fight. I rushed to Trenton, I had to hurry and get this done, then start the bloody mission.

---Fernando---

“You sure it was ok not stopping him, Sir?” Janus spoke to my right as we looked out at the massing militia. Unlike our own settlement, Ryles had a larger community and ability to feed his people. I’d have to run taking it for our own by Damian later.

“There isn’t a ‘stopping’ our Commander, Janus. He has an overwhelming urge to try and keep us safe. It may be foolish at times, but we have survived this long because of the strange things he is capable of obtaining for those missions he does. I wonder if it ever really was the Confederate Command that ordered them in truth. Regardless, we hold Bastion. Granit!” I shouted as the militia began forming up and sending a squad of what looked like fifty toward our gate. “Sir?”

I looked out at that incoming fifty, the few hundred behind them, and smiled grimly. “Light them up.” A yes sir, and then screams and explosions filled the air, all coming from the enemy.